ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP)- Maryland officials are tightening police access to sealed indictments after a sheriff's office employee was charged with tipping off 10 suspected gang members to criminal charges.
A spokeswoman for the Maryland Judiciary told the Capital that the timing was coincidental and that the recommendation to restrict access was made months ago.
Police in Anne Arundel County on Wednesday charged Chanel Holland of Glen Burnie, a civilian management aide in the county sheriff's office, with obstruction of justice and illegally accessing a computer. Authorities say she reviewed sealed records and alerted 10 alleged gang members they were about to be arrested.
Under the new rules, the court database managed by the state court system will no longer provide law-enforcement agencies in the state with access to sealed indictments.
